Buffalo's 802.11n WiFi dongle: small in size, tiny in price

Small, fast, and cheap... what could be better? Buffalo's WLI-UC-GN 802.11b/g/n dongle measures just 16 × 33 × 8-mm and costs a mere ¥2,100 (about $24). It supports both Buffalo's proprietary AOSS and the Wi-Fi Alliance's WPS to simplify the process of connecting to secure WiFi networks. Look for the USB 2.0 adapter to ship in Japan and beyond starting next month. Check the hot male-to-female USB bunging after the break.

[Via Akihabara News]

[Wyatt @ Jan 15th 2009 4:08AM]

Genius.

[Rhuantavan @ Jan 15th 2009 4:10AM]

Me wants.

[Mo @ Jan 15th 2009 4:12AM]

Thats some nice usb pron

[blackfeathers @ Jan 15th 2009 4:19AM]

the top view reminds me a lot of a chicklets gum candy

[Cash @ Jan 15th 2009 4:22AM]

Bunging? Did you mean banging?

Sweet looking Dongle... it's almost as small as the receiver for my Logitech Nano VX wireless mouse.

[TheIcemanCometh @ Jan 15th 2009 7:47AM]

I thought the same thing! I love that mouse. I never have to disconnect the receiver from my laptop. Awesomeness.

[Bhargav @ Jan 15th 2009 4:48AM]

Great!! I'll probably recommend it to my friends who have old lappys..

[greatcaffeine @ Jan 15th 2009 4:35AM]

That's actually really cool! I'd be interested to see some real world speed benchmarks, especially considering how cheap that is.

[Mark @ Jan 15th 2009 4:44AM]

I'm concerned about the reception, seeing the antenna is close to non-existing..

[Drew Green @ Jan 15th 2009 7:20AM]

My thoughts exactly. I imagine that it wouldn't be brought to market (by Buffalo, at least) if it didn't have decent reception, so I'm sure it will be acceptable.

[Josh @ Jan 15th 2009 4:57AM]

Oh yeah, male and female!

Oh crap, I forgot: I was talking about USB's.

[Bufsabre @ Jan 15th 2009 5:00AM]

i would totally consider getting this if its a linux friendly chipset

[AVG @ Jan 15th 2009 3:17PM]

Yes, you and the other %0.01 of the world's computer market. Buffalo is probably hammering out those Linux drivers right now.

[Carlton @ Jan 15th 2009 8:34PM]

Yeah, Linux market share is actually about two orders of magnitude more than that. Plus, with Linux netbooks on the scene and, in general, growing Linux presence, it'd be a good marketting decision to be cross-platform, where possible.

Since they're hardware manufacturers, it'd really make the most sense to just open-source as much of their drivers as possible, anyway. Do that, and Linux hackers can much more easily port them over, without that reverse-engineering or ndiswrapper nonsense. It's not like they're selling the drivers, right?

[Bufsabre @ Jan 15th 2009 8:37PM]

carlton, dont feed the trolls

[Joe H @ Jan 15th 2009 5:13AM]

And, very importantly, finally Buffalo can sell wireless stuff in the US again.

[OhMickey @ Jan 15th 2009 5:16AM]

now....If only it had pass-through capability so you wouldn't 'loose' the port.
that... would kick ASCII

[ikumajp @ Jan 15th 2009 5:40AM]

yesterdays news,
Before Buffalo, planex had a similar size product (GW-USMicroN) and
osx compatible.

[Major4Play @ Jan 15th 2009 5:53AM]

OSX compatible obviously the most important feature considering my G3 imac (which is now ancient) has a wireless card built in.
Every intel mac so far has had N.

[MadMike @ Jan 15th 2009 7:48AM]

Major4Play: Not entirely true - the absolute first intel macs had G chipsets and then N-disabled chipsets. You are correct though in the fact that Apple has had at least a built in wifi adapter standard longer than most other laptops.

[Oli D @ Jan 15th 2009 10:45AM]

My intel mac mini disagrees

[northpole @ Jan 15th 2009 5:40AM]

wow.. the size and price seems to be in proportion, unlike other tiny sky priced ones!
but a test of throughput and signal quality will only tell the actual usefulness. Also imagine, if the manual says you need to be within 10ft of the wifi router!!
It'll not be far when someone stuffs an 11n receiver in the usb plug itself, by that time hope we would have got the 11n standard out of draft LOL!

[GoVegan @ Jan 15th 2009 6:19AM]

Nothing new here, Planex released the same sized adapter a couple of months ago, that isn't vaperware, just bought one the other week.
http://www.planex.co.jp/product/wireless/gw-usmicron/

Besides Buffalo's AOSS is crap, yes it makes it easy to set-up an insecure WEP connection, but that doesn't help the user understand that they should be using WPA2.

Anyway best advice: Get a Mac and you don't have to worry about buying fugly little USB adapters to connect to your WLAN.

[Daza @ Jan 15th 2009 7:31AM]

I half expected your 'best advice' to be "Go Vegan!"

[Barbaric @ Jan 15th 2009 11:36AM]

Actually, the best advice I choose to offer is:
Buy a well speced windows laptop, with an extra battery, toss in an internal Blu-Ray drive, with HDMI out, since my 46" Toshiba LCD has never heard of display port. Then, purchase this fine dongle. Last step- spend the money I saved by not buying a MBP and get a nice steak dinner to celebrate my new purchase.
But anyway, that's the best advice I can offer. And since advice is a subjective opinion based on individual situations, can there really be "best" advice?

[Portablemonkey @ Jan 15th 2009 7:44AM]

If anyone's interesting in getting one, you can leave a message on my site in the comments section:

Thanks for the news all (inc. GoVegan).

http://portablemonkey.com/article/micro-80211n-usb-adapters-hit-japan/

[zephxiii @ Jan 15th 2009 7:57AM]

....and terrible reception.

[nxp3 @ Jan 15th 2009 9:12AM]

This looks like a great device. Small enough so it doesn't break off like other usb devices out there. Great design.

[Micah @ Jan 15th 2009 9:41AM]

Does it work on the xbox 360? If so, this thing will sale like hotcakes.

[tim @ Jan 15th 2009 10:04AM]

i was wondering that myself...

[captainpease @ Jan 15th 2009 10:19AM]

Now how 'bout an HDMI version of this?!

[Rob @ Jan 15th 2009 11:59AM]

"Now how 'bout an HDMI version of this?!"

Is that a joke?

[captainpease @ Jan 15th 2009 12:35PM]

I was just thinking it would be sweet to have an HDMI connection (instead of USB) carry the wifi. That way HDTVs could get network capability. Obviously a browser would then be needed...soooo...

[Carlton @ Jan 15th 2009 8:39PM]

Wow. Wrong on so many levels.

[ProfessorKaos @ Jan 15th 2009 10:39AM]

Most likely tiny in performance too.

[ProfessorKaos @ Jan 15th 2009 10:39AM]

I love the comments that its a great price and size. If only they didnt realize what a crap company buffalo is in this regard.

[Oli D @ Jan 15th 2009 10:43AM]

Concept, a USB dongle that doesnt take up a usb slot,

it goes in the usb, then has a usb socket, like a 1x usb replicator with a built in wifi...?

investment anyone?

[Wwhat @ Jan 15th 2009 11:12AM]

True if it's tiny enough you don't have the effect that it breaks or breaks the port it's plugged into.
Perhaps some lame-ass company like MS or apple or rambus or google even locked the idea up in a patent though, just to be annoying.

[Mario @ Jan 15th 2009 11:23AM]

A bit like the way 3COM patented the pop-out antenna on PCMCIA WiFi cards, leaving everyone else to make them with fixed antennae which stuck out an inch. They then sold them for a 400% premium, the bastards. It certainly put me off buying 3COM products.

Sometimes patents really do stifle progress.

[Jason @ Jan 15th 2009 1:04PM]

http://www.buffalotech.com/press/releases/buffalo-announces-wireless-lineup/
According to the link above, the price for the WLI-UC-GN will be about $59.99 and not $24. Suddenly it doesn't seem like such a great deal...

[Fuzzball @ Jan 15th 2009 1:31PM]

If this were dual-band, I'd be all over it.

[FILA @ Jan 15th 2009 2:39PM]

amazing how simple it is for some to get amazed by a USB plug in, i cant blame them!!! I like it, really nice

[NERV @ Jan 15th 2009 3:44PM]

I would like to know ifthis would work with my popcorn hour A110 bc the wn-100 totally sux. It would also b nice if it works with Xbox 360, ps3, and wii

[Roman @ Jan 15th 2009 5:02PM]

...and microscopic in reception.

[Kingpcgeek @ Jan 15th 2009 5:25PM]

Nice to know after two years of litigation Buffalo will once again be able to sell WiFi devices in the USA.

[StreetHigh181 @ Jan 18th 2009 12:00AM]

A mere 2,100 Yen ($24)... inflation much?